On the Vanguard of Resilience: Opportunities and Challenges for Small and Mid-sized Communities

IBTS recently set the strategic goal of furthering its work in the resilience space. What does this mean? We’re going to put a greater focus on the creation of resilient and sustainable communities throughout the U.S. and abroad.

As large urban areas lead the resilience movement, many smaller communities are being left behind. With roughly 19,000 U.S. cities with a population of less than 100,000, there are great opportunities to address climate, economic, and social resilience in smaller communities. Failing to do so threatens to exacerbate the urban/rural divide and leaves millions of Americans vulnerable to natural and man-made hazards.

To help address this issue, Patrick Howell, Community Resilience Program Manager at IBTS, and Joyce Coffee, Resilience Lead, participated in a panel at the 2018 ResCon International Global Resilience Summit in New Orleans, LA, on December 4-6. Their session, “On the Vanguard of Resilience: Opportunities and Challenges for Small and Mid-sized Communities,” brought together leaders from the public, private, and non-profit sectors to discuss small city resilience and the useful tools available to identify risks, develop resilience strategies, and implement plans.

During the presentation, Patrick shared two case studies from IBTS’s disaster recovery work: in Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina, and the recent resilience planning conducted in Norristown, Pennsylvania. By sharing these real-life examples and resources, the panel hoped to bring disaster planning to the forefront of local government thinking to strengthen communities’ resilience and ensure life-safety in the event of a disaster.